HOLIDAY MIRACLE: The Problem That Prevented Disaster For A Family Set To Fly On Missing AirAsia Jet

As the search continues for the missing AirAsia jetliner with 162 people on board, one Indonesian family that was supposed to be on the ill-fated flight is praising “Lord Jesus” for saving them.

As reported on rt.com, Chandra Susanto had been planning a holiday in Singapore with his wife and three children since March, but had to cancel their trip the day before they were supposed to leave. The reason — Susanto’s father became ill.

“It was a difficult decision to make because my son Christopher was so disappointed,” Susanto told the Daily Mail Australia. “He had been looking forward to the holiday for a long time.”

But the disappointment over missing their vacation quickly faded when news broke that the AirAsia plane disappeared on Sunday. On his Facebook page, Susanto posted a picture of the ticket for flight QZ8501, along with his thanks to Christ. When translated, the notation reads:

Susanto, his wife Inge, and their children ages 5, 7 and 10 were reportedly among 23 ‘no-shows’ for the AirAsia flight, which was on its way from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore when it lost contact with air traffic control early Sunday morning.

The aircraft was said to have been approaching violent weather over the Java Sea when it disappeared about 40 minutes into a scheduled two-hour flight.

As an international search continued — with reports that unidentified debris and possible oil slicks had been spotted — an Indonesian official said that the missing AirAsia flight was likely to be “at the bottom of the sea.”

As noted in a post at theguardian.com, the disappearance of AirAsia flight QZ8501 is the third disaster involving a Malaysian carrier this year.

In March, the country’s national airline, Malaysia Airlines, lost contact with flight MH370 as it was en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur; the plane has not been found, and its disappearance remains a mystery.

In July, Malaysia Airlines flight 17 was apparently shot down over Ukraine, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.